Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Lithography was still a young art at the height of Daumier’s career. He used lithography as a medium because it easily recorded swift and spontaneous character of mark making. He made 3958 social satirical works. His work talked a lot about political oppression and pretenses and always ridiculed the efforts of politicians of priests that would “put out all the lights.”

Shinagawa Takumi was a Japanese printmaker who was also skilled in metalwork and photography. In his early prints he worked a lot with images of the human figure, and over the years his work gradually moved toward abstraction and the simplification of forms. He was especially interested in the characteristics of color as it was printed on paper, as well as obtaining new colors by mixing and layering colors to get the effects that he wanted.

I think its interesting how he positions the figures within the space, and the different angles he chooses to view the figure at.

Edvard Munch is one of those ubiquitous artists about whom I didn't actually know much. Turns out he's pretty cool and has made more work than The Scream. This print is a 1901 woodcut from 2 blocks (one is three pieces) and it's called Melancholy (Evening). Munch considered himself a Symbolist, and one can also see strong Romantic influence in his work. It's evocative, emotional and expressive. He felt that his works captured only the essential, and that's why there are often open spaces that at the time looked "unfinished." He was both a painter and a printmaker, and is known for both media. He worked back and forth between painting and printmaking, really exploring themes and motifs in imagery. However, Munch turned to the reproductive process of printmaking partway through his career because it was so hard for him to sell paintings because he was so attached to them. I'm really drawn to Edvard Munch's aesthetic and themes - his work is sad and weird and makes you feel with him. It reminds me of the same feeling I get when I look at Francis Bacon's paintings (a quick google search tells me that he also made prints. I should learn more). There's something visceral in them that connects to me emotionally.

Kiki Smith was born in Germany but is known as an American sculptor and often printmaker. Motifs in her works involve bodies/organs and animals and narrative/religion. She's known as a "feminist artist" cos her representations of ladies are funny/quirky as opposed to erotic. Her sculptures are often life size and involve generic female bodies and exaggerated limbs. She's got a funny sculpture in the Pulitzer of a person surrounded by yellow beads called "Peeing".

Her dad was a minimalist artist. You should watch this art21 doc on her (also Kara Walker) http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/smith/. She is basically a witch.

This guy is pretty cool. His name is Art Hansen and I found him in a book of contemporary printmakers from the Northwest. He was in his 80's at the time this book was published, and had been making prints for most of his life. He lived on this isolated island and had 20 acres of woodland which was the inspiration for pretty much all of his work throughout his life. He was from the Northwest and eventually returned there, but only after traveling across the world. He spent some time in the military and lived in Europe for a while, realizing while he was abroad that the artworks that he admired most were images of nature. He occasionally did paintings and lithographs but mostly he works with an etching needle due to his love for drawing. I think what drew me (ha) to this artist was the clear love he had for his subject. I think that his dedication to the natural world, having isolated himself with his subject, really shows through into his work.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Jasper Johns (1930-present) is an American artist who has worked in drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. He has been a major influence in minimalism and pop art. He is most known for his images of flags, maps, and targets.

I remember seeing the print of the coat hanger a few years ago and I was immediately attracted to the line quality and the effectiveness of his figure ground composition. Johns has many prints and, in an interview, talks about how printmaking brings an experimental quality to his work. It also introduced the idea of mirror image and layering often seen in his work.

I fell in love with Louise Bourgeois at her Guggenheim exhibit in 2008, but I only ever used the sculptures that I saw in the exhibit as references. I finally picked up several of her books and now I am falling in love with her all over again. SHE MAKES PRINTS.

Perhaps her most known pieces are the large spiders that are all over the world in great cities. The spiders, though massive, look as though they are a sketch on the horizon. Her prints look as if they are sculptures.

He Disappeared into Deep Silence from 1947 is a series of texts and engravings compiled into a book. The text evokes feelings of love and rejection in a cool, almost flippant manner. The engravings are simple, but I feel that it is through their simplicity that they achieve highly developed emotions.

Otto Dix (1891-1969) was a German painter and printmaker. His work often centered around the relationship between Eros and death, and he used this theme to depict the variety of human life. His overall aesthetic is one of grotesque humor, his figures comical in their distortion. Dix dealt a lot in terms of these "opposing worlds." The above print is an example of his early work, from a series "Death and Resurrection" in which he bluntly displays the fact of death, even in its violent forms. Towards the end of his career in the 60s, Dix began to prolifically create lithographs, with more depth and spontaneity than his previous work. The print below is one of many religious themed works from this time period, more specifically from a cycle based on the Gospels of St. Matthew. He mostly made prints during this time period. All of the prints were done on large stones, some as big as his paintings.

Judith Brodsky was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1933. She was in love with drawing ever since she was little, but her parents felt it was important that she got a liberal arts education as well, so she attended Radcliffe, which had no major in studio, and studied Art History. Based on this experience, Judith "encourage[s] young people, if they want to be artists, to go to colleges first rather than to art schools, and then go to art schools after that. They have to have some ideas, and it helps to learn about literature and about history and about art history, and then go on and get involved in their own work more fully" (p. 17). Judith received her M.F.A. at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Judith always thought she would be a painter but fell in love with printmaking during her time at Tyler. She also found that her prints sold much more easily than her paintings.

Judith's work often involves creating imagery etched on metal plates. She describes her method as "not spontaneous, it's additive. I start out with an idea, and I like the idea, I like to rework the idea as I go along" (p.23). In the early 1980's, she liked to do etchings rich with saturated, flat color. Her later prints involved more appropriated imagery.

I enjoy the diversity among Judith's prints and am encouraged by her opinion that a liberal arts education can really help an artist in developing their own point and creating stronger work.

David Wojnarowicz! He was in the news lately because of a controversial film that had been displayed and then pulled out of the Smithsonian. The third image in this post is a still, actually the still, that had provoked opposition from the Catholic League.

Untitled, from the series Rimbaud in New York, 1977-79
Gelatin silver print.

These images are more tame than a lot of his work, but I'd say that most of it deals with identity as a gay man and as a victim of AIDS during a time in which little was known about the disease. If you look through his work you'll see his frustration with the widespread ostracization of gay men who were slowly dying from this disease.

An example of the average mindset at the time follows (possibly fodder for wojnarowicz)

"When it began turning up in children and transfusion recipients, that was a turning point in terms of public perception. Up until then it was entirely a gay epidemic, and it was easy for the average person to say 'So what?' Now everyone could relate."Harold Jaffe of the CDC for newsweek"

(This quote was taken years after the first cases were documented.)

Still from film Fire in My Belly (1987)

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to end on a lighter note, basquiat's brown spots (portrait of andy warhol as a banana)

I did a bit of research on Edvard Munch's prints -- and came across "Man and Woman Kissing Each Other," a woodcut from 1905. The print is dynamic and visually engaging despite its simplicity: the line-work captures only the necessary, expressive details, which heightens its poignancy. Its emotional charge is likewise amplified by the vibrating lines that surround the two central figures.

The print was also appealing to me for its content: "Munch proposes a sense of isolation between a couple [with his use of contrasting colors and his rendering of their facial expressions]... [the viewer is presented with] conflicting messages of passion and emotional ambivalence."

Basically, I chose "Man and Woman Kissing Each Other" because it caught my eye: it's a striking image with an interesting, complex subtext.

Joan Snyder’s interest in art began when she was a junior in college and took her first introductory painting course.The experience made her realize that through art she had found a way “to talk about my feelings, a way to speak- and that was the beginning.” Snyder received her A.B. from Douglass College and her M.F.A. from Rutgers and since then has been producing work as both a painter and a printer.Her work draws from her own personal feelings, German expression, children’s artwork, and female imagery and materials.She is most known for being part of the beginning of the early feminist movement, but she considers herself both a feminist and an artist, as opposed to someone making feminist art.“Making art is, for me, practicing a religion…creates for me a heritage.It is a place to struggle freely at my altar.I want my work to be strong, available, generous.I need it to be joyous and sorrowful, complex and meditative, all at once.To be vulnerable, to have a feeling of transcendence and in this state to give meaning.”

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Printed at ULAE

Throw of the Dice #4, 1963

Lithograph in 1 color on Rives BFK

Robert Motherwell began his interest in art within the discipline of Art History. He studied at Stanford, Harvard and finally at Columbia University in New York City under Meyer Shapiro. In 1940 Shapiro introduced Motherwell to the printer Kurt Seligmann and this was his first introduction to printmaking. With Seligmann he studied engraving. In the mid 1940's Motherwell worked in a collaborative workshop founded by Stanley Hayter. Hayter who had started Atelier17 in Paris had to flee France and moved his workshop to lower Manhattan. Robert Motherwell was one of the first Americans to work in Atelier17 once it moved to Manhattan. Stanley Hayer is quoted (in an explanation of the benefits of printmaking) saying "if you know what it's going to look like, why bother making it?"(p.16) and Motherwell was attracted to that view of art making. After working at Atelier17 Motherwell went on to work at ULAE, Tamarind Lithography Workshop, and Gemini G.E.L. In the 1970's inspired by the collage that was present in his paintings, he pinned collage pieces to the wall of the Gemini workshop and the printers reproduced the collage pieces and attached them to his prints using the press. He was always inspired by what was around him and his paintings and prints began to inspire each other. Motherwell wrote in 1979, "Good images have a way of generating others ... The despair of the artist is that he can only work on one at a time." (p.33) I like the idea of good images inspiring and generating new ones and I think printmaking is a great example of a medium in which this becomes evident because of the ability to make multiples, varied editions, and ghosts prints that can then turn into future work.

Above: printed at ULAETricolor (Appendix 8), 1983

Lithograph on Arches

Edition: 125

Below: printed at ULAE

Gauloises Bleues (White), 1970

Intaglio in 2 colors with aquatint and line-cut on Auvergne a la Main Richard de Bas

Here is a link to the gallery we will be visiting on Friday, ThreeWalls. I will send a group email out with final details about our Chicago trip, but in the meantime, please check out the gallery and think about any questions you might have in relation to their programming, or, any general questions about how to get shows or how they choose artists for their gallery. Here's a map too:

In addition to Kelsey's opening, there are lots of other venues in Chicago with shows opening on Friday and Saturday night. I came across these:

41st Annual Pilsen East Artists Open House, Friday 6-10pm; Sa-Su 12-7pm. The PilsenEast Artists’ Open House is a unique opportunity to view the works of professional artists in the intimate venue of their studios and homes. Every year, during the last weekend in September, the Chicago Arts District comes alive with people walking down the streets, filling the studios and galleries, and spilling out into the courtyard. This is also a chance for artists to network, meet the art-going public and speak to them about their work, get and give input or to simply catch up with friends and colleagues. It has always maintained a very informal air and everyone is welcome. Chicago Arts District1945 S. Halsted St.Chicago, IL 60608312-738-8000 Ext 108info@chicagoartsdistrict.orgWrite Now: Artists and LetterformsSeptember 30, 2011 – April 29, 2012Friday, September 30, 2011, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: Opening ReceptionChicago Cultural Center, Chicago Rooms

For as long as there have been alphabets artists have explored the letterform, employing the fundamental element of written communication in many ways other than the setting of text. This exhibition presents recent works using letters and text in painting, printmaking, sculpture and video. Included in this exhibition is a Fluxus project with international submissions of mail art and concrete poetry.

Looking for a blog about posters, prints, toys, dragons, monster trucks and ebay? Check out http://omgposters.com/. This is a great resource for nearly every major poster artist's recent work with poster sale information and print contests. You will go to this website and actually say "OMG POSTERS!"

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Hey there partners!
There is this great website that is a wonderful resource for images of art! Any kinds, from any time period, from anywhere in the world! It's also free, you just need to create a log-in using your WUSTL email account.
The website: www.artstor.org
The website its self is not completely as cool as the selby blog that Elisabeth posted, but it has some really nice images of artists' work. They also are usually high quality so you can use them in power points and they wont be pixelated.
Also check out these two print shops in Chicago: www.thelittlefriendsofprintmaking.com
AND also these two printmakers (Nick and Nadine) make really unique silkscreen posters (band posters)(yay!): www.sonnenzimmer.com
Love,
RS

A quick blurb on one of my favorite artists, Lucas Johnson— a painter, draftsman, and printmaker. I came upon a book of his work by chance several years ago and it has been one of the happiest accidents that ever happened to me. Johnson does meticulous drawings of weathered faces and desert landscapes atop dreamy ink washes. He has made editions of lithographs and etchings; his highly detailed, process oriented style lends itself well to both techniques. I imagine that if Dali, de Chirico and Magritte had traveled to Texas, they would have produced something resembling Johnson's work. His pieces aren't "conceptual" in the trendy sense of the word, but there is tons of concept— and emotion— in them. When I look at his images, I travel to places that I think I've been but I know don't actually exist in the real world. Check him out!

source: Lucas Johnson and Edmund Pillsbury, The Art and Life of Lucas Johnson (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006).

Monday, September 19, 2011

This is an excellent video if you are ever feeling limited by your environment and resources. It follows an artist, Janet Echelman, who followed her gut, persevered, and fulfilled her large-scale visions. It's also a great example of the importance of craft and culture in art.

Here is a website I spend/lust a lot of my time on. As the websites 'about' page says so eloquently, "The Selby offers an insider’s view of creative individuals in their personal spaces with an artist's eye for detail."theselby.comAlso, sometimes there are short videos which are really enjoyable. Here's one about a sculptor they featured. Spoiler alert: there's a Darth Vader beer fridge/vodka dispenser which is pretty impressive.http://vimeo.com/17188504

This is a Tedtalk by Vik Muniz who is an artist I became really interested in after I watched a documentary about him last semester called Wasteland. He creates all of his work using really creative material. What I like most are the portraits he does made of substances that are relevant to the lives of his subjects (i.e. sugar for children who grow up working on sugar plantains, and trash (not mentioned in this tedtalk but in Wasteland) for people who work picking recycling goods out of a landfill in Brazil. I also like this video because it's always really interesting to hear how very famous artists started their career.

This is a cool website I found back when I wanted to do communication design. It is a community for professional and aspiring designers and illustrators, and has tons of galleries and information on how to become an artist in the entertainment industry. Though not really meant for fine art, I think it's interesting to see the kind of work that is currently or will soon be feeding directly into different areas of popular culture. The work in the galleries covers a huge range of styles, and although it is mostly illustrative, some artists find a lot of very unusual and interesting ways to construct their images. I also like how the galleries of really well known and successful artists sometimes appear right next to artists who are just beginning their careers or education.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Hey this is a really cool blog I really like, and it features spontaneous art, like doodles or sketches, as opposed to super finished things.. but there's a whole variety of different stuff on herehttp://www.doodlersanonymous.com/it's another waste your time on the internet more productively

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Hey here is a gr8 street art blog if you are into that kinda thing! it has less quirky small stuff than say like streetsy and is mostly a catalogue of The Big Names but the curation is sometimes is a good thing cuz it all quality http://unurth.com/index

Also a radtimes documentary about BLU (look up his stuff on the youtube.com!) http://www.juxtapoz.com/Current/blu-qmegunicaq-documentary

Friday, September 9, 2011

Here's an awesome link to the Chicago art magazine's profile of artists who use string in unique ways. Good for inspiration, future references, or people to look for during the Chicago trip. Special fav: artist Lindsay Obermeyer's work at http://www.lbostudio.com/gallery/index.html